Ornithomimus
Ornithomimus is a genus of dinosaur from the late Cretaceous Period. Ornithomimus appear to be flock animals whose chicks have fluffy feathers and (like many modern day birds) imprint on the first thing they see.Saving the Sabretooth Ornithomimus, like many other animals, found its fame in Prehistoric Park. Facts Like other ornithomimids, species of Ornithomimus are characterized by feet with three weight-bearing toes, long slender arms, and long necks with birdlike, elongated, toothless, beaked skulls. They were bipedal and superficially resembled ostriches. They would have been swift runners. They had very long limbs, hollow bones, and large brains and eyes. The brains of ornithomimids in general were large for non-avialan dinosaurs, but this may not necessarily be a sign of greater intelligence; some paleontologists think that the enlarged portions of the brain were dedicated to kinesthetic coordination. The bones of the hands are remarkably sloth-like in appearance, which led Henry Fairfield Osborn to suggest that they were used to hook branches during feeding. Ornithomimus differ from other ornithomimids, such as Struthiomimus, in having shorter torsos, long slender forearms, very slender, straight hand and foot claws and in having hand bones (metacarpals) and fingers of similar lengths.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornithomimus In Prehistoric Park ''T-Rex Returns '')]]Nigel Marven found a lone ''Ornithomimus in a bush. The Ornithomimus emerged and to Nigel's surprise, a whole flock of them raised their heads above the bushes. The flock fed on the vegetation until Nigel intentionally spooked them in order to get ahold of an individual. Nigel managed to catch a fleeing Ornithomimus and covered its head with a sock (a technique used on ostriches to calm them down). When the rest of the flock ran past Nigel, he let go of the individual he was holding. Days later, when Nigel was attempting to transfer a female Tyrannosaurus rex to Prehistoric Park, the flock reappeared and distracted the Tyrannosaurus. One individual was too slow and was eaten by the Tyrannosaurus. The rest of the flock however ran into the time portal which led to Prehistoric Park. Head keeper Bob Arthur was surprised at the amount of Ornithomimus coming through. Later, Bob moved the flock into a paddock. ''A Mammoth Undertaking Bob was having problems with the ''Ornithomimus flock as he was treating them like ostriches and was expecting them to eat the grass. The Ornithomimus however were not feeding. Bob later learnt that Ornithomimus were more like ducks and decided that he should move them into an enclosure with a pond so that they could find their own food. Bob managed to move the flock into their new enclosure but it took a while for them to calm down and find the pond. They later settled down and began feeding. ''Dinobirds '')]]Bob was checking on the ''Ornithomimus flock to see if they were enjoying their new pond. He was glad that the Ornithomimus were enjoying it. However, he noticed that one female was acting strangely, staying near the undergrowth away from the rest of the flock. When Nigel returned from a trip to the Cretaceous, Bob informed him about the Ornithomimus. Nigel realised that the symptoms that the Ornithomimus was giving out was similar to what happens when birds are broody. Head vet Suzanne McNabb later gave the Ornithomimus an ultrasound scan and discovered that the Ornithomimus was indeed broody. Later, the mother Ornithomimus laid a clutch of eggs. Nigel went to investigate them but was seen by the mother. ''Saving the Sabretooth '')]] The ''Ornithomimus mother laid two sacrificial eggs out of instinct outside of the nest for predators. Suzanne took the two eggs and gave them to Bob to incubate. Later, Nigel and Suzanne went to the Ornithomimus enclosure and found out that the rest of the eggs had hatched. They played around with the Ornithomimus chicks and found out that they had down feathers, possibly to keep them warm. Meanwhile, Bob checked up on the two sacrificial eggs and found out that they hadn't hatched yet. Suzanne thought they wouldn't hatch but Bob was not keen to give up on them yet. After Nigel returned from the Pleistocene, against all the odds, the sacrificial eggs hatched and were dubbed Ollie and Olivia.http://www.prehistoricpark.com As Bob was the first thing they saw, they instinctively imprinted him. They followed Bob everywhere he went, even near Matilda's (the park's female Tyrannosaurus) pen. ''The Bug House Bob managed to get Ollie and Olivia into the ''Ornithomimus Pond with their real mother. ''Supercroc '')]]During the Mass Break-Out, a panicing titanosaur destroyed the fence surrounding the ''Ornithomimus Pond, letting the Ornithomimus run loose. Bob attempted to keep the Ornithomimus calm and move them along but was interrupted by Matilda the Tyrannosaurus. They were then chased by a spooked Elasmotherium. After the break-out was over and the park was rebuilt, the Ornithomimus was returned back to their enclosure. Behind the Scenes *''Ornithomimus'' is the first animal, not only to have more than one of its own kind in Prehistoric Park, but also to be the first animal to have conceived in the present day. *Originally, the Ornithomimus Nigel caught at the start of T-Rex Returns was planned to be the only one returned to the park, and have the rest of its flock stay in the Cretaceous. This idea was scrapped, but was later given to Theo the Triceratops. *''Ornithomimus'' are the only animals besides Tyrannosaurus to have been given an important role in every episode. Gallery :See also: Images of Ornithomimus References External links :Ornithomimus on Wikipedia Category:Prehistoric Park Wikia Category:Cretaceous Animals Category:Creatures in the Park Category:Creatures Category:Dinosaurs